- THE GOTHIC WORLD OF DAN CURTIS (2019)
Label: MPI Home Video
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 87 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1(
Director: David Gregory
Cast: Ian McShane, Alan Ball, William F. Nolan, Herman Wouk, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Steele, Ben Cross, Jonathan Frid, David Selby, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Lara Parker, John Karlen, Nancy Barrett, Jerry Lacy, Roger Davis, Marie Wallace, Chris Pennock, James Storm
Synopsis: In 1966, a phenomenon was launched when Dark Shadows debuted on ABC-TV as a daily Gothic suspense series. Airing in the late afternoon, the show attracted a massive youth audience as it shifted to the supernatural with the introduction of vulnerable vampire Barnabas Collins. Witches, ghosts and scary story lines turned Dark Shadows into a TV classic that led to motion pictures, remakes, reunions and legions of devoted fans who have kept the legend alive for five decades.
While I have never been even a casual fan of any of the incarnations of Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows I have long been a fan of the series creator Dan Curtis, who I discovered through his made-for-TV terror films The Night Strangler (1973), Dracula (1973), Trilogy of Terror (1975) and Dead of Night (1977). These TV terrors were seminal frights for me as a young kid watching them with my mom when I was probably still in kindergarten at the time. I was a bit too young for those but I couldn't look away, and as much as I loved them I would suffer vivid nightmares afterward. A bit later on in life as a teen I discovered his theatrical evil house film Burn Offerings (1976) starring the voluptuous Karen Black and the drink-loving Oliver Reed, and it was only then that I began piecing together these works sprang from the fertile mind of one man - that being writer, producer and director Dan Curtis. Even then I don't think I was aware of his work on Dark Shadows, not until the 90's when the show rerunning on TV around the time that Curtis was re-launching a 90's incarnation of the series. I remember giving it a watch, but it failed to pull me in with the same thrall that the 70's TV movies did. That's pretty much where I've been at with the Gothic soap for the last twenty plus years, a show I know of it but don't really care about it all that much.
Now along comes director David Gregory (Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau) exploring the shows beginnings and on-going cult-status with a brisk 87-min talking heads doc narrated by Ian McShane (American Gods) featuring new and vintage interviews with Oscar-winning writer-producer Alan Ball (True Blood), screenwriter William F. Nolan (Trilogy of Terror), author Herman Wouk (The Winds Of War), fan/actresses Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost), horror icon Barbara Steele (Black Sunday), actor Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire), and the cast of the original Dark Shadows; Jonathan Frid, David Selby, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Lara Parker, John Karlen, Nancy Barrett, Jerry Lacy, Roger Davis, Marie Wallace, Chris Pennock and James Storm among others, including the late Dan Curtis himself.
All speaking of the seminal influence of the series and praising and admonishing Dan Curtis for his creative drive, while also being candid about the shows shortcomings and production limitations, the likes of forgotten lines and rickety sets. It traces Curtis's beginning in the TV industry with the creation of a popular golf show, launching the Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, and then when it looked like the show might be ending before it could really begin, having the genius to temp the Gothic melodrama with an infusion of supernatural life via vampires, ghosts, witches and werewolves, and the rest is as they say, TV history. Despite not being a fan of the show it's hard to ignore that it established a precedent that is still thriving today with shows like Supernatural and True Blood.
The doc certainly gave me more of an appreciation for the man behind the series, but didn't really sway my opinion of the show, it's not for me. Additionally, it made me kind of sad when it's revealed that Curtis was looking to get out of horror, going onto direct the epic historical TV mini-series The Winds of War (1983), but despite the success of the series failing to find success beyond TV terror, resorting to relaunching Dark Shadows in the 90s and producing a new Night Stalker TV series in the oughts, but never really finding the success he craved beyond the realm of horror. At under 90-min the doc is pretty breezy, it goes by fast, touching on life after the series, his epic historical mini-series, the re-launch of the show in the 90's, and barely mention the Tim Burton film adaptation, as well as going into it's cult status and fandom that continues today. For fans of the series this will probably be even more delightful, if not necessarily deep-diving.
Audio/Video: Master of Dark Shadows arrives on Blu-ray from MPI Home Video framed in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1) but incorporating various aspect ratios including vintage full frame video from the original Dark Shadows series, behind-the-scenes footage, still images and whatnot. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD 2.0 with optional English subtitles.
Extras are plentiful, beginning with Kathryn Leigh Scott touring of the studio where the show was filmed, which has since been demolished. There's also a precursor of sort to the series via an episode of the ABC anthology TV series The Web, plus audio of Jonathan Frid on The Dick Cavett show with still images, and newsreel footage of Frid appearing at President Nixon's daughters' birthday party at the White House in character. On top of that we get some TV spots, merchandise promos, and several videos of Frid giving dramatic readings of material by Edgar Allen Poe and William Shakespeare from a public TV show, plus trailer for the doc and a bit with stars Kathryn Leigh Scott & David Selby promoting the book "Dark Shadows - Return To Collinwood.", and a 2012 performance of Selby's Dark Shadow inspired songs.
Special Features:
- Dark Shadows in Hell's Kitchen: Visiting Studio 16 (2 min)
- Before Dark Shadows: The House (1954 Episode of The Web) (26 min) HD
- Original Dark Shadows TV Spots (2 min) HD
- Jonathan Frid: Poe & Shakespeare in the Shadows (16 min) HD
- Barnabas at the White House (4 min) HD
- Jonathan Frid on The Dick Cavett Show (1968) 16 min) HD
- David Selby: Light & Shadow (16 min) HD
- Dark Shadows in Print (8 min) HD
- Dark Shadows Audio Dramas (2 min) HD
- Master of Dark Shadows Trailer (2 min)
- Promos & Trailers (17 min)
Master of Dark Shadows is a wonderful love-letter to the man behind the Gothic melodrama that has lived on long beyond it's initial run, inspiring a second series and a big budget Tim Burton adaptation starring Johnny Depp. While I'm still not a fan of the series I can appreciate it more because of this doc, and as I love his TV terrors I think there's still plenty of meat left on the bone for another doc going into his made-for-TV horror films, which would be more to my liking.
